Just some random thoughts from me...


I think Ham is very useful for travel, hiking with others with radios, family comms around town or trips and a myriad of other things.

My wife got her license (tech) a couple of years ago. We both have identical handhelds (Icom T90A triband). We communicate on trips all the time. I may go on a short early morning hike before she gets up. I call her at a certain prearranged time to meet for breakfast or let her know I am running late etc. Short distances generally (1-5miles at best). We also sometimes split up on hikes...I go to the top of a peak, she awaits below. I call her to come up and see the sites or let her know I am going down a different way or have fallen and broken my leg....perfect radios for these sorts of things.

Hiking as an emergency comm tool is much more of an issue. If you are going somewhere where you know you will be able to have line of site to a repeater with autopatch you can call in. If you are counting on contacting someone when you break your leg then all bets are off. Most repeaters might be out of your line of site and even if you can hit them there is no guarantee of anyone listening. This is all based on the terrain and local radio interests.

I contact my wife all the time at night as I am driving to pick her up. She can meet me in the parking lot right as I pull up...I can tell her I have a flat etc. Cell works fine for this but ham is free. Our handhelds have decent range for this sort of application. We can use both simplex and have agreed upon communication protocols to use in the event of an emergency. She can leave me messages using our RACES group repeater and take care of herself. I can leave her messages or potentially contact her directly via an agreed upon simplex frequency. This is the best reason to get a ham license in my view....options non-dependent on any infrastructure for communications over reasonable distances.

Getting a license just requires memorization of the questions and money for a decent radio, spare battery and decent antenna. It is very useful in my view. Join an emergency group and you are part of the solution rather than part of the mob needing assistance.

Ham as an emergency responder is a good thing to do.